WASHINGTON: Retail sales in the United States accelerated in September, according to government data released Thursday, even as auto and gas station sales remained tepid for the month—a positive sign as the election approaches. Overall sales rose 0.4 percent to $714.4 billion between August and September, according to Commerce Department data, beating analysts’ expectations.

In August, sales edged up just 0.1 percent to $711.3 billion. Excluding auto and gas station sales, the overall monthly rise would have been even higher at 0.7 percent in September, the report added. While the US central bank had kept interest rates high for a large part of the year—raising the cost of borrowing for households and businesses to tamp down inflation — consumer spending has been more robust than expected.

Households have been drawing down on savings from the COVID-19 pandemic period, and the economy could be given a further boost with the Federal Reserve starting to lower rates more recently. Compared with the same month a year ago, retail sales were up 1.7 percent in September.

Pantheon Macroeconomics noted in a recent report that “with growth in labor income slowing, credit conditions remaining tight and households recently having exhausted their excess savings, we expect growth to slow sharply over the next couple of quarters.”

Pantheon analysts added that “Hurricane Helene probably landed too late in the month” to have an impact on the sales figures, “and was too localized to have a major impact on national sales.” — AFP